Moratorium-achievement (MAMA) cycles in lifespan identity development: value orientations and reasoning system correlates

Age-related Gendered Diminishment: toward understanding and interventions for a common psychological experience in post-midlife women

Building from clinical observations with women at midlife and beyond, Age-related Gendered Diminishment (AGD) is presented as an integrated construct for a common psychological experience characterized by feelings of invisibility and inconsequentiality for women after midlife. Etiological contributors are suggested and aligned to existing literature describing frequent psychological challenges of women at this stage of life; potential evolutionary and social roots are discussed; and the question of why this complex of symptoms remains under-recognized in mental health contexts is evaluated. Finally, therapeutic interventions aimed at the construction of potential generative identities are proposed with a call for further research to better understand and address this phenomenon.

Helicopter parenting during emerging adulthood: Consequences for career identity and adaptability

This study explores the relationship between parental over involvement and the career development of emerging adults. Specifically, it investigates how emerging adults’ career meta competencies of vocational identity formation and career adaptability relate to perceived helicopter parenting. Participants included 491 emerging adults studying in a Canadian University (74.1% female, average age = 20.4 years old). We begin by reviewing the commonalities between helicopter parenting and other parenting constructs and styles. Next, using structural equation modeling, we explore the relationships between perceived helicopter parenting and the components of vocational identity (exploration: in depth exploration, in breadth; commitment: career commitment, identification with commitment; and reconsideration: career self doubt, career flexibility) and career adaptability, as well as the relationships between identity components and career adaptability. Third, we explore the association between perceived helicopter parenting and identity status progress (i.e., achievement, foreclosure, moratorium, undifferentiated, and searching moratorium). Results indicate that individuals reporting higher levels of perceived helicopter parenting experience significantly lower levels of career adaptability and in-depth exploration. Furthermore, these individuals report higher levels of career self doubt and are more likely to be in the vocational identity status of searching moratorium. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Identity Integration in Adolescents With Features of Gender Dysphoria Compared to Adolescents in General Population

Adolescence is an important period for identity formation and identity consolidation is one of the main developmental tasks. Gender identity is an essential aspect of identity but so far little is known about its development. Neither has the identity development of adolescents with features of gender dysphoria (GD) been extensively studied so far. However, adolescents with features of GD have been shown to present extensive psychiatric psychopathology and could therefore be assumed also to have more problems with identity development. We set out to compare the identity integration of adolescents with features of GD (n = 215; 186 natal females, 29 natal males) and adolescents from general population (n = 400; 244 females, 154 males and 2 who did not report their sex) using a culture-adapted Finnish version of an assessment tool for adolescents and young adults on identity in terms of personality functioning, the Assessment of Identity Development in Adolescence (AIDA). AIDA is a 58-item self-report questionnaire enabling dimensional differentiation between healthy and impaired identity development. The continuous AIDA total score (sum score) and its subscales were analyzed using MANOVA, and dichotomized T-scores differentiating identity development in impaired and healthy range using cross-tabulations with chi-square statistics. Adolescents with features of GD showed identity development similar to adolescents in general population. The slight differences seen in AIDA scores were in favor of the GD group. The proportion scoring to identity impairment was lowest among gender-referred adolescents assigned males at birth. Identity integration of the gender-referred adolescents was further compared to that of 77 adolescents in specialist level psychiatric outpatient treatment (67 females, 10 males). The adolescent psychiatric outpatients scored much higher toward impaired identity on all AIDA scales than did the adolescents with features of GD. These results suggest that features of GD are not associated with problems in identity development in adolescents at large. Adolescents with features of GD may have been required to process their identity more, thereby advancing further in their identity consolidation process than young people on average.

Daily Identity Dynamics in Adolescence Shaping Identity in Emerging Adulthood: An 11-Year Longitudinal Study on Continuity in Development

According to identity theory, short-term day-to-day identity exploration and commitment processes are the building blocks for long-term development of stable commitments in emerging adulthood. This key assumption was tested in a longitudinal study including 494 individuals (43% girls, M_age T1 = 13.31 years, range 11.01–14.86 years) who were followed from adolescence into emerging adulthood, covering ages 13 to 24 years. In the first five years, adolescents reported on their daily identity processes (i.e., commitment, reconsideration and in-depth exploration) across 75 assessment days. Subsequently, they reported on their identity across four (bi-) annual waves in emerging adulthood. Findings confirmed the existence of a dual-cycle process model of identity formation and identity maintenance that operated at the within-person level across days during adolescence. Moreover, individual differences in these short-term identity processes in adolescence predicted individual differences in identity development in emerging adulthood. Specifically, those adolescents with low daily commitment levels, and high levels of identity reconsideration were more likely to maintain weak identity commitments and high identity uncertainty in emerging adulthood. Also, those adolescents characterized by stronger daily changes in identity commitments and continuing day-to-day identity uncertainty maintained the highest identity uncertainty in emerging adulthood. These results support the view of continuity in identity development from short-term daily identity dynamics in adolescence to long-term identity development in emerging adulthood.

STUWA: Ein multifaktorielles Inventar zur Erfassung von Studienwahlmotivation

Zusammenfassung. Forschung zu Studienwahlmotivation von Lehramtsaspirantinnen und -aspiranten hat gezeigt, dass verschiedene Motivationen die Studienwahlentscheidung beeinflussen können. Leider mangelt es an reliablen und validen Instrumenten, die verschiedene Facetten von Studienwahlmotivation studienfachübergreifend erfassen. Diese Lücke im testtheoretischen Arsenal der empirischen Bildungsforschung soll durch die Entwicklung eines multifaktoriellen Inventars zur Messung der Studienwahlmotivation (STUWA) geschlossen werden. Das vorgestellte Instrument erfasst fünf in der Selbstbestimmungstheorie der Motivation sowie der Erwartungs-Wert-Theorie fundierte Facetten von Studienwahlmotivation testökonomisch (jeweils drei Items): intrinsische, extrinsisch-materialistische, extrinsisch-soziale, sozial-induzierte und bewältigungsorientierte Studienwahlmotivation. Darüber hinaus ermöglicht es die Erfassung des Ausmaßes, in dem die Studienwahlentscheidung mit Unsicherheit verbunden ist oder alternativenorientiert gegen ein eigentlich aspiriertes Studienfach getroffen wurde. Die Gesamtskala wurde in zwei Studien auf ihre Reliabilität und Validität getestet. In einer ersten Studie ( N = 413 Erstsemesterstudierende) ließ sich mit Hilfe explorativer Faktoranalysen eine sieben-faktorielle Skalenstruktur aufzeigen. Diese Struktur konnte in einer zweiten Studie ( N = 716 Erstsemesterstudierende) durch eine konfirmatorische Faktoranalyse repliziert werden. Die einzelnen Subskalen zeichnen sich durch akzeptable interne Konsistenz aus. Außerdem zeigten sich bedeutsame Zusammenhänge zwischen einzelnen Facetten der Studienwahlmotivation mit motivationalen Zielorientierungen und der Studienzufriedenheit. Insbesondere intrinsische Studienwahlmotivation zeichnete sich wie erwartet durch ein adaptives Assoziationsmuster aus. Das Ausmaß der unsicheren oder alternativenorientierten Studienwahl zeigte hingegen maladaptive Außenkorrelationen. Des Weiteren ließ sich in der zweiten Studie skalare Messinvarianz für Geschlecht sowie zwischen Studienfächern nachweisen, was auf die Eignung des Instruments für Fachvergleiche hinweist. Entsprechende Vergleiche konnten zeigen, dass sich BWL-Studierende in stärkerem Ausmaß als Studierende anderer Fächer durch eine extrinsisch-materialistische Studienwahlmotivation auszeichnen. Lehramtsstudierende gaben hingegen eher extrinsisch-soziale und sozial-induzierte Studienwahlmotivation an. Die aufgeführten Belege für die Validität des Instruments verdeutlichen seine Eignung für den Einsatz zur studienfachübergreifenden Messung von Studienwahlmotivation. Auch wenn weitere Forschung zur Bedeutung der einzelnen Facetten im Längsschnitt noch aussteht, wird erst durch das präsentierte Instrument solche Forschung (über Lehramtsstudiengänge hinaus) überhaupt möglich.

The personality‐identity interplay in emerging adult women: convergent findings from complementary analyses

The present study examined whether identity development occurs in tandem with personality development in emerging adulthood. Three‐wave longitudinal data on a sample of 351 female college students were used to answer questions about stability and change, direction of effects, and interrelated developmental trajectories. Four identity dimensions (i.e. commitment making, exploration in breadth, identification with commitment, and exploration in depth) and the Big Five were assessed. Identity and personality were found to be meaningfully related at the level of both the time‐specific adjacent measures and the underlying developmental trajectories with various degrees of convergence. Cross‐lagged analyses substantiated reciprocal influences and Latent Growth Curve Modelling substantiated common developmental pathways that partially mirrored the concurrent relations. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Leadership and Identity Construction: Reframing the Leader-Follower Interaction from an Identity Theory Perspective

In this Research Note we will explore the role of identity development for the efficiency of leadership relationships. We will hold that identity theory provides a useful theoretical basis from which to gain deeper insights into leadership processes. After briefly reviewing the usage of the identity concept within the field of leadership we will draw on an interactive perspective for explaining the dynamics of identity building and maintaining it. Against this background we will pose research questions on the consequences for effective leadership.

The Differentiation of "Firm" and "Developmental" Foreclosure Identity Statuses

The present exploratory study was undertaken for the purpose of empirically differentiating 'firm "from "developmental "foreclosure subjects in the Marcia ego identity status modeL A total of 131 university students volunteeredfor the first phase of this study in 1990. Each was administered the Marcia Identity Status Interview, foursubscales of the Separation-Individuation Test of Adolescence (SJTA), and an Early Memories Interview. Of the participants, 80 were reassessed 2 years later on the same measures. Firm foreclosure subjects (who retained their foreclosure rating over 2 years) had higher nurturance seeking scores than did developmental foreclosure, moratorium, and achieved individuals at the outset of the study. Firm foreclosure participants also had more frequent early memory themes of seeking security at the outset of the study than did developmentalforeclosure, moratorium, or achieved subjects. The ability to differentiate firm from developmental foreclosure late adolescents holds important implications for theory construction andfuture research.

Toward a Microprocess Perspective on Adolescent Identity Development

An abundance of research has been conducted on identityformation during adolescence, however, very little is bwwn about the processes that actually drive identity development. Furthermore, limited attention has been paid to the active influence of relationships with parents and peers on identity. Recentl, control theory has-been recognized as a useful framewor*from which to examine the microprocesses involved in identityformation. The purpose of this article is to describe identity development from this microprocess perspective and to extend the Grotevant model of identity formation processes. When applied to identity, control theory brings attennon to such intrapersonal factors as identity standards and self-perceptions, and such interpersonal factors as reflected appraisals and social behaviors as major contrbutors to the process of identity development. Implicationsfor using identty control theory to elaborate the identity statuses, to understand reciprocal identity influences in interpersonal relationships, and to drive methodologies used to exanune identity processes, are offered.

Concurring patterns of women’s identity status, attachment styles, and understanding of children’s development

A total of 96 mothers of preschool children participated in a study examining the relationships among identity status and the variables of family attachment style and understanding of children’s development. Results indicated that women in the committed identity statuses of identity achievement and, contrary to expectation, foreclosure, were highest in secure attachment. Fearful attachment predominated among the uncommitted identity statuses of moratorium and identity diffusion. Achievement women were the highest and diffusion women lowest in their understanding of children’s development. Examination of attachment styles as categorical variables, for achievements and foreclosures, revealed two different patterns within each status: secure and insecure. When achievements and foreclosures were grouped according to their attachment classifications and their perspectivistic scores analysed, achieved-insecure women had relatively high perspectivistic scores (in fact, the highest among the statuses) and foreclosed-insecure women had relatively low ones (almost as low as diffuse women). These results suggest that there may be two distinct patterns of both foreclosure and achievement for adult women.

The Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS)

Abstract. The Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS; Crocetti, Rubini, & Meeus, 2008 ) is a recently developed measure of identity that has been shown to be a reliable tool for assessing identity processes in adolescents. This study examines psychometric properties of the U-MICS in a large adolescent sample from seven European countries focused on the interplay of commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment. Participants were 1,007 adolescents from Bulgaria (n = 146), the Czech Republic (n = 142), Italy (n = 144), Kosovo (n = 150), Romania (n = 142), Slovenia (n = 156), and the Netherlands (n = 127). We tested the U-MICS measurement invariance, reliability estimates in each language version, and compared latent identity means across groups. Results showed that the U-MICS has good internal consistency as well as configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance across groups in the sampled countries.

Identity Formation in Adulthood: A Longitudinal Study from Age 27 to 50

Longitudinal patterns of identity formation were analyzed in a representative cohort group of Finnish men and women born in 1959 across ages 27, 36, 42, and 50. The data were drawn from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality. Identity status (diffused, moratorium, foreclosed, achieved) from all four ages was available for 172 participants (54% females). Marcia's Identity Status Interview used in this research included five domains: religious beliefs, political identity, occupational career, intimate relationships, and lifestyle. The findings indicated great variability in identity status across domains at each age level, and the identity trajectories fluctuated from age 27 to 50. The developmental trend from age 27 to 50 was moderately progressive (toward achievement) for the five domains and for overall identity, with the exception of a slightly regressive trend in male religious identity. Remaining stable in the same status category across the four measurements was rare and emerged only for diffusion in the ideological domains. Women generally outnumbered men in identity achievement at earlier ages, but the gender differences diminished in most domains at age 50, except in religious identity. In women overall diffusion decreased over time, but in men it remained at about 20% at ages 42 and 50.

The Relationship Among the Six Vocational Identity Statuses and Five Dimensions of Planned Happenstance Career Skills

The current study investigated how the five components of planned happenstance skills are related to vocational identity statuses. For determination of relationships, cluster and discriminant analyses were conducted sequentially on a sample of 515 university students in South Korea. Cluster analysis revealed vocational identity statuses to be divided into six meaningful groups, as the six-cluster model originally proposed by Porfeli, Lee, Vondracek, and Weigold: achieved, searching moratorium, moratorium, foreclosed, diffused, and undifferentiated. Moreover, discriminant analysis indicated that planned happenstance skills differentially discriminated the six vocational identity statuses. The more advanced vocational identity statuses (i.e., achieved and searching moratorium) had higher scores on the assessment of planned happenstance skills than their counterpart, the less advanced group (i.e., diffused and undifferentiated). Implications of the findings were discussed in the context of career counseling intervention (133 words).

Dimensions of Identity and Subjective Quality of Life in Adolescents

The aim of this study is to investigate the relations between identity statuses and the perceived quality of life in adolescents aged 16-19. The research methods include the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire to assess identity status of a sample covering 233 participants (148 girls, 85 boys), and the Youth Quality of Life Instrument to assess their subjective quality of life. Diffused identity is linked to the lowest level of subjective quality of life, whereas foreclosed identity to the highest. Five patterns of the connection between identity dimensions and perceived quality of life have been distinguished through cluster analysis. The results indicate that different patterns of identity processes in adolescents coexist with different levels of quality of life.

Identity development in deaf adolescents

We studied identity development during 5 years in seven deaf adolescents who attended a school for deaf children in the highest level of regular secondary education (age between 14 and 18 years), administering identity interviews every year. Identity development is conceptualized as the processes of exploration and commitment formation (Bosma, 1985). We started from the assumption that because deaf adolescents meet more challenges and also-in our sample-were stimulated in their identity development by school programs, they meet identity conflicts at a relatively early age. The findings were highly consistent with our hypotheses that-compared to a general sample-identity development proceeds faster than in a hearing group and that commitment formation in the domain "Being Deaf" starts earlier than in other domains. We did not find evidence for the hypothesis that commitment formation in this domain in the last year was more mature than in other domains due to a ceiling effect.

The development and initial validation of the narrative foreclosure scale

OBJECTIVES

As people grow older, identity development in later life becomes a more and more relevant topic. Studying processes that hinder or promote identity development in later life is of importance. Within this broader field, there has been a growing interest in narrative foreclosure. Our goal was to develop a short, reliable and easy-to-use instrument measuring narrative foreclosure and to validate this instrument in two samples.

METHODS

The narrative foreclosure scale (NFS) was validated in two studies with a sample of middle-aged adults (n = 319) and a sample with older adults (n = 174). Several analyses were conducted to assess the psychometric properties, the factor-structure and incremental validity of the scale.

RESULTS

Confirmatory factor analyses generally showed an acceptable fit of the two-factor (NF-Future and NF-Past) model to the data in both samples. Both factors of the NFS demonstrated adequate to good internal consistency, with alpha coefficients ranging from .79 for NF-Past in study 2 to .88 for NF-Future in study 1. Construct validity was good as shown by moderate to large correlations to related constructs. The scale adds a unique portion of explained variance to positive mental health, thereby showing the incremental validity of the NFS.

CONCLUSION

A reliable scale is now available that allows to study the premature hindering of identity development in older populations. The use of the NFS as a process measure in studies on the effectiveness of interventions aiming at meaning making and identity development, such as life-review therapy and narrative therapy, is also recommended.

Ethnic and racial identity during adolescence and into young adulthood: an integrated conceptualization

Although ethnic and racial identity (ERI) are central to the normative development of youth of color, there have been few efforts to bring scholars together to discuss the theoretical complexities of these constructs and provide a synthesis of existing work. The Ethnic and Racial Identity in the 21st Century Study Group was assembled for this purpose. This article provides an overview of the interface of ERI with developmental and contextual issues across development, with an emphasis on adolescence and young adulthood. It proposes a metaconstruct to capture experiences that reflect both individuals' ethnic background and their racialized experiences in a specific sociohistorical context. Finally, it presents milestones in the development of ERI across developmental periods.

Testing new identity models and processes in French-speaking adolescents and emerging adults students

Developing a sense of identity is a crucial psychosocial task for young people. The purpose of this study was to evaluate identity development in French-speaking adolescents and emerging adults (in France and Switzerland) using a process-oriented model of identity formation including five dimensions (i.e., exploration in breadth, commitment making, exploration in depth, identification with commitment, and ruminative exploration). The study included participants from three different samples (total N = 2,239, 66.7 % women): two samples of emerging adult student and one sample of adolescents. Results confirmed the hypothesized five-factor dimensional model of identity in our three samples and provided evidence for convergent validity of the model. The results also indicated that exploration in depth might be subdivided in two aspects: a first form of exploration in depth leading to a better understanding and to an increase of the strength of current commitments and a second form of exploration in depth leading to a re-evaluation and a reconsideration of current commitments. Further, the identity status cluster solution that emerged is globally in line with previous literature (i.e., achievement, foreclosure, moratorium, carefree diffusion, diffused diffusion, undifferentiated). However, despite a structural similarity, we found variations in identity profiles because identity development is shaped by cultural context. These specific variations are discussed in light of social, educational and economic differences between France and the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Implications and suggestions for future research are offered.

Racial discrimination and racial socialization as predictors of African American adolescents' racial identity development using latent transition analysis

The present study examined perceptions of racial discrimination and racial socialization on racial identity development among 566 African American adolescents over 3 years. Latent class analyses were used to estimate identity statuses (Diffuse, Foreclosed, Moratorium, and Achieved). The probabilities of transitioning from one stage to another were examined with latent transition analyses to determine the likelihood of youth progressing, regressing, or remaining constant. Racial socialization and perceptions of racial discrimination were examined as covariates to assess the association with changes in racial identity status. The results indicated that perceptions of racial discrimination were not linked to any changes in racial identity. Youth who reported higher levels of racial socialization were less likely to be in Diffuse or Foreclosed compared with the Achieved group.